Lakers volleyball adds Klassen

Nipissing Lakers women’s volleyball head coach Marc LaRochelle is pleased to announce the commitment of Jessica Klassen to attend Nipissing University and join the Lakers in 2013.Klassen, a 5’2” Libero, played high school volleyball at Westdale Secondary School and played for the Mountain Volleyball Club (MVC) based in Hamilton, Ontario. Klassen is enrolled in the Nursing program and chose Nipissing University because it provides a collaborative atmosphere that allows students to learn in a variety of forms.
“The small class sizes, one-on-one support and the genuine interest in student success provides a great sense of community that will make the university transition much easier,” said Klassen. “I am excited to be joining the Nipissing Lakers as they enter the OUA and I am ready to take on the challenge.”
Klassen began her club career with the Halton Hurricanes before moving to MVC from 16U-18U. In 2013, MVC had a very successful season, finishing fifth at the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) provincial championship in Tier 1 Division 1. Other accomplishments during the season included a gold medal in Championship West and a fifth and seventh place finish in premiere division tournament play. MVC also captured the gold medal at the BNCC Freeze tournament, held in the United States.
Jos Nederveen, head coach and president of MVC, has coached Klassen since she was a 16U player. “Jessica's work ethic has allowed her to advance at the Libero position in a very short period of time,” he said. “The challenge of university-speed volleyball will certainly add to her incentive to be successful.”
The Lakers graduated both Liberos this season, so the addition of Klassen will certainly help fill that void.
“What impressed me the most about Jessica is her relentless pursuit of the ball,” said LaRochelle. “She refuses to let the ball hit the ground without an effort and has an impressive work ethic which is necessary to succeed in the OUA.”
The Lakers will play in the OUA East division with Ottawa, Queen’s, RMC, York, Ryerson and Toronto. They’ll play home and away series within the division and a one game cross-over with the West division. The regular season will have the Lakers playing a total of 19 games with the schedule expected to be finalized in late May.